For the Future
by muffle-kun
Summary: post-canon; Team 7 meets up with the future versions of themselves who went back in time to prevent something cataclysmic. SasuSaku
1. i: The Beginning

**i. the beginning**

* * *

They came from the future.

At least, that's what they said.

They have returned to the past to prevent a series of events that will result in total annihilation and chaos in the shinobi world.

Heh, Naruto thought, they talked as if the Fourth Shinobi World War wasn't annihilation and chaos enough.

And what ill timing.

Konoha was still in the beginnings of renovation.

_(this village which stands upon blood-soaked earth)_

Sasuke was still bitter towards Konoha.

_(take away his chakra, can never take away his hate, but still he stays)_

Sakura was still distrustful of Sasuke.

_(loved with all her heart, still loves, will always love, but trust is a different thing)_

And Naruto…

Naruto, after everything, was still optimistic—

_(but grew more realistic; one would, after so many battles to the death)_

—but he'd never expected he'd come face to face with his 28-year old self.

"You just have to listen to us and everything will turn out alright," the older version of him had said, beaming. Behind him, one face smiled kindly while the other remained passively grim.

Naruto knew his teammates mirrored the latter's expression.

Sakura would be uncertain, her brows furrowed in concern, already trying to figure out the problem and the possible solutions and obstacles in her head. Also possibly trying to wake herself up and pull away from this nightmare.

Sasuke would be seething (when has he never?), glaring at the older mirror images sitting across them, rejection already at the tip of his tongue. He would not want to take part in saving something he'd rather burn to the ground if he could.

Naruto smiled wryly.

Sakura will try to run away and Sasuke had never been one to listen to his elders. Never mind that one of them is his older self.

Naruto sighed.

Annihilation and chaos indeed.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **inspired by a fanfic I've read, this will be a series of connected drabbles  
**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned Sasu-kun and Sakura-chan but I don't =w=


	2. ii: Small Differences

**ii. small differences**

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, no! Wait!"

They argued in the middle of the battlefield.

"NO! He should not get away!"

A second, a blur, and the young man was meters ahead of her. _So far_.

She failed to notice the other man; the man who had been hidden in the shadows, a comrade of the man her teammate was chasing.

"Sasuke-ku-"

The name ended with a gasp when she was thrown backwards from the impact. A spear had pierced through her left shoulder and embedded itself on the tree behind her, taking her with it.

Metal glinted against sunlight; her opponent held an axe as he raced towards her. She tried to summon the energy to pull the spear free, but every tug sent blinding pain throughout her body. Her knees were weakening. She was losing a lot of blood. She was trapped.

She willed to take back the tears but-

_Sasuke-kun_.

* * *

A prickling sensation at the back of his neck.

In a split-second decision, he looked back, his mind still half trained on the enemy he was chasing.

What he saw made him stop.

_There was no saving her now._

* * *

Chakra erupted from beneath their feet.

The enemy's axe met resistance.

With her clouded vision she saw;

the red splatter of blood as it poured from a slit in the man's throat.

_It mixed with hers on the ground._

the dark purple flames of the barrier surrounding her.

_Wasn't it supposed to feel evil? But no, she felt its warmth._

the black of her rescuer's hair.

_Could it be?_

* * *

"What the fuck were you trying to pull?!"

The young man was shoved against a tree, his assailant's forearm pushing hard across his throat.

He defiantly glared at the other man, dared to look back at those angry eyes.

_Eyes that were his own._

"Do you have any idea what happened to me this morning?! Do you?!" his assailant yelled, his voice almost cracking in despair.

_He knows because he has heard it many times; it was his voice when he called after his father, his mother, his __**brother**__, his clan._

He couldn't answer, because he did not know.

"I WATCHED MY WIFE AND SON DISAPPEAR LIKE SMOKE RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES!" the older man, _the older him_, screamed as he shook him by the collar.

Behind them, the trapped girl cried quietly.

"Had I known…Had I known that even after all these years, you couldn't protect her…"

Unable to go on, the older Sasuke finally let him go and walked towards Sakura. He let Susanoo die down into harmless flames before disappearing completely, and checked on the injured young woman.

"Sakura, bear with the pain just a little longer, please." he stated, sending a jolt of electricity through the metal to turn her whole arm numb before pulling the weapon out.

She whimpered in pain and promptly passed out onto his waiting arms.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. I could never be Kishimoto, that awesome troll =)


	3. iii: A Kiss from the Future

**iii. a kiss from the future**

* * *

"I'm sorry."

Sasuke, who sat on the porch, looked up to see his wife's younger self standing before him. Her left arm was still wrapped in a sling.

"I…I'm sorry…for what happened to your family…" she continued, her eyes never leaving the floor, unable to look at him directly. _I'm sorry for not being able to protect myself and doing this to you._

He returned his gaze to the garden he really wasn't seeing.

"Hn. I apologize too. I shouldn't have lost control like that."

She couldn't find any response to that.

"His back is going to bruise."

"Sasuke-kun…" the young kunoichi began. "Sasuke-kun is…"

He felt no need to pressure her into continuing, so he stayed silent.

The young woman slowly sat beside him.

"You've never let anyone force you to do anything. You've always had a will of your own. So…telling Sasuke-kun to…to…_look after me_…You don't have to do that."

He smirked, "Yeah, that probably just irritated him, didn't it?"

Sakura's cheeks burned. _It was as if he's openly admitting that his younger self still thinks of her as a burden; even after all the training she had went through. She was a Jounin now, for heaven's sake!_

_…A Jounin who had nearly gotten herself killed,_ a voice inside her head reminded her.

"W-what I meant was…_is_…you don't have to force anyone into protecting me!"she stated vehemently. "Whatever happened…whatever _feelings_ you now feel, they don't exist here. And I…I respect that."

"I guess that's why _we're _the ones who went back in time and not you." the older Sasuke replied and took her hand.

Sakura started.

"We went back here to set some things straight; to change a few things. That doesn't mean that we wanted to change everything in your future. For me…I was angry at myself for quite a few things that I did and had to do in the past. It is selfish of me; but I want to be able to change, to realize sooner how precious you are to me."

He looked at her in the eyes, with the kindness she had known he had since back in their Genin days.

"For now, I just want you _and my past self_ to take care of you and make sure you'll grow up to become my wife."

His hand came up to caress her cheek then, and he slowly began to cross the distance between them.

Their lips were almost only a hair's breadth away from touching when he sighed.

_I understand_.

And he planted his lips on her forehead instead.

He smiled kindly after that, amused at the plain confusion written on her face.

She hadn't even realized she had jerked her head back at the last moment, minutely avoiding his kiss.

The older Sasuke could feel warmth blooming inside his chest.

There was still hope for this timeline's him.

"SAKURA-CHAN! IZUMI! TEME, THEY'RE BACK!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **yeah, Sakura is my favorite character but I know she says the worst things sometimes

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.


	4. iv: Hello

**iv. hello**

_(takes place before __**i. the beginning**__) _

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple scouting mission.

_Check on an old, rickety house in the outskirts of the village. Several villagers have been complaining about mysterious noises coming from the abandoned building._

Naruto had whined.

_"We can't fight ghosts! Kunai and shuriken don't work against them! They're different from the Edo Tensei people!"_

Sasuke had bristled at that but continued his baleful silence.

What can he do? His chakra had been sealed.

_Damn these people who think they can order him around after his and his clan's sacrifices. Perhaps he could just WILL Konoha into non-existence._

Sakura was absent, preferring to work in the hospital than suffer the uncomfortable tension with the two. She'd never tell them that.

_"But I got her to promise she'll catch up after her shift, believe it!"_

So the two young men, both powerful shinobi on their own (_never mind that one was chakra-less_), ventured to the said house.

* * *

"Something's off."

They stood before the building they had been assigned to inspect.

The blond shinobi narrowed his eyes at his teammate's statement. "Hmm…yeah, I can feel that too. But what could it be, exactly?"

His raven-haired teammate rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me. _You're the one with chakra_."

Naruto gave him a dirty look. "And your point is, teme?"

He was answered with a frown.

"It's probably a genjutsu, you idiot. Use your chakra to dispel it."

"Why shouldn't _you_ do it then, Mr. Smarty-Pants?"

"It's because **my chakra has been locked away****_, Mr. Dickhead_****.**"

_"Huh…fighting like a married couple…Damn, those times were really embarrassing after all."_

Sasuke gave Naruto a full-blown murderous glare.

"**WHAT.**"

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

One heartbeat and they took off to opposite directions at the same time, barely avoiding three kunai that whizzed past them and struck the earth they had been standing on.  
Naruto activated Sage Mode, trying to search for their enemy's chakra, just as Sasuke was thrown back by a blur. The raven-haired shinobi recovered quickly though, and drew out his katana just in time to parry several shuriken thrown his way. His blond teammate dashed to his side, kunai at the ready, and the two stood back-to-back, eyes frantically searching for the enemy.  
"Who do you think it is?" Naruto asked.

"No idea. Haven't you found him yet?" Sasuke replied, a little breathless after the blow he had received.

"Nope. I can't zero in on his signature. Damn bastard must be able to mask well-THERE!"

Naruto rushed forward immediately, leaving Sasuke before he could protest. He threw a straight punch, and was surprised when the enemy blocked it instead of dodging. His shock grew when his eyes met a pair of familiar cerulean.

"SAS—" his warning was cut short as his legs were kicked from underneath him, and he was tossed towards the ground.

"THERE'S TWO OF THEM_,_ NARUTO!" Sasuke, who was also engaged in battle, shouted. He managed to steal a glance at his comrade and threw a kunai at Naruto's opponent with his left hand while parrying his enemy's slashes using the katana he held in his right. That moment of distraction however, was enough for the enemy to take advantage of; one powerful hand chop to Sasuke's wrist and the long blade was out of his hand. The raven-haired shinobi was undaunted. He unleashed a barrage of kicks and blows, but they were all blocked. Finally, he aimed for a left hook, but his fist was grabbed before he could connect. A flash of blue eyes filled his vision. He went rigid in shock.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto attacked his teammate's assailant from the left. This move too, was easily dodged; the enemy simply pushed the heel of his palm forcefully against Naruto's face and he was sent back where he came from.

Sasuke snapped out of his momentary lapse just then. He was about to deliver a right hook this time, when the enemy decided on grabbing his wrist too and bodily throwing him overhead.

The raven-haired shinobi was sent flying—

"NARUTO! SASUKE-KUN!"

—straight into Haruno Sakura who had just arrived.

_"Oops."_

* * *

It completely took her unawares; she had no time to move her arms to catch her teammate.

His back met her torso and the impact made her wince and lose her footing. They both fell to the ground, him lying on top of her, his arms dangerously close to her legs. Wheezing, she tried to get up and push him off her when she saw who had thrown him. She froze.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." a sheepish smile was pasted on the enemy's face.

"N-Naruto?"

"No, he's an **imposter**."

A hand brushed against Sakura's right leg and before she could react, a kunai was thrown at the man standing in front of them. Sasuke had pulled it from Sakura's holster.

The blond man deflected the weapon with a kunai of his own. "Heh, I guess having no Sharingan has its disadvantages, eh, Sasuke?"

_"Tch. I already told you I don't need Sharingan to beat the crap out of you, Naruto."_

They all felt the genjutsu being lifted.

Sakura saw the dilapidated house transform into a building fit to be inhabited, the figure of the blond man in front of them turned clearer, and three people appeared on the house's porch.

The blond man was indeed Uzumaki Naruto, albeit he looked to be several years older.

An older-looking Uchiha Sasuke stood on the porch along with a woman who held a black-haired toddler in her arms.

"Hello past selves!" the older Naruto greeted.

The Naruto and Sasuke who were still on the ground were too stunned to neither speak nor move.

But their shock was nothing compared to what Sakura was feeling.

The woman's waist-length hair was **black**.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I thought I should write more about how the present Team 7 and their future selves meet, so here ya go. Remember, these drabbles are connected, so questions _will_ _be_ answered in next chapters. Aaaand I kinda forgot to say that this will focus more on Team 7 dynamics _(a.k.a emotional turmoil) _than the reason why the future selves went back in time. BUT the reason and how they solve their problem _will be_ revealed.

Thank you for reading!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.


	5. v: Anxiety

**v. anxiety**

(_takes place after **iii. a kiss from the future**_)

* * *

She watched from the doorway as the older woman bustled around the kitchen.

She was unsure if what she was about to do was appropriate, but she had become restless after what had transpired earlier.

_If only there was an easier way to apologize to your future self for almost kissing your future husband._

"Oh. Don't just stand there, help me out here a little!" a voice startled Sakura from her thoughts.

She looked up to see her older self looking back at her, mixing something in a bowl she had hugged to her waist. She tentatively walked forward.

"I thought it would be nice if we could have lunch together, you know. You, me…the boys…" older Sakura chatted away as she set her bowl on the counter and started chopping some vegetables. "Oh, can you peel those for me? Thanks."

They worked together in silence, the thud of a knife meeting wood and the occasional clang of pots the only sounds piercing the air. It would have been a peaceful atmosphere if not for the anxiety that the younger Sakura felt; and she remembered the reason she came there in the first place.

"I'm sorry."

The older woman paused. She took a glance at her companion before sighing and eventually continuing her work.

"I said I'm sorry." younger Sakura insisted. She dropped her knife onto the chopping board.

"Don't apologize. You and I are one and the same after all."

"But—"

"You know, Sasuke-kun hasn't slept with me since we arrived here."

"Eh?! W-wha—u-uh—"

Older Sakura grinned slyly at her counterpart's expression, but didn't say anything about noticing it.

"It's the hair. I remind him of his mother. When we got here, my first thought was 'How do I feed Izumi?' We are shinobi, yes, but someone must go to the market and buy food, no? If Naruto were to buy food, we'd die from ramen overdose."

That brought smiles to their lips.

"And you still know what food Sasuke-kun obsesses over, right?"

Younger Sakura blushed furiously once more before muttering, "Tomatoes."

"See? If I were to leave the nutrition management to them, we'd starve!" the older woman laughed. "So I decided to dye my hair."

Sakura recalled _that_ moment; the older Naruto who had been an enemy, standing before her and Sasuke, the older Sasuke standing on the porch with his wife and son, the realization that the wife had_**black hair**_ and not_**pink**_, the crippling **_jealousy _**that gnawed at her heart.

She bit her lip.

"I could come and go as I pleased and no one would question me. It's more convenient than a simple _henge_ which, if someone suspicious of me enough were to try, could be dispelled easily. Smart, right?" older Sakura smiled.

She was answered by a shy grin.

"It cost me though. The first day, Sasuke-kun wouldn't look straight at me. Then he started avoiding me like the plague. He wouldn't touch me, refused hugs, refused my kisse—"

"I-I actually don't want to hear about it!"

The older woman laughed.

"If you say so. But really…I guess that's part of the reason why he kissed you. The sight of you…it must have _excited him_." The latter part was said almost bitterly.

"But I didn't—! I mean…I don't…"

_BANG!_

The pestle came down a little too loudly against the mortar on the counter.

"If you came here to ask…" older Sakura spoke levelly, but her younger counterpart detected the anxiety in her voice. After all, they share the same heart.

"…let's just say…I'm just as jealous as you had been when you first saw me."

The younger Sakura only had one answer.

"Then I guess I never change."

* * *

"Your hair's pink."

"Yes, Sasuke-kun, it had been pink since I was born."

"You dyed it black when we came here."

"Well, yeah. _I did it on a_ _whim_."

Uh-oh. Sakura using his words against him was a sign that she was mad at him about something.

"You turned it back."

"Uh-huh."

"What is it this time?"

"Hmm…"

"Sakura."

"Whatever are you on about, Sasuke-kun?" his wife replied with a too-sweet smile.

"You're angry about something."

"Hmm…well, yeah, I guess I am. But now that you mentioned it, I don't seem to remember what it is I'm angry about. Care to refresh my mind?"

"Sakura, stop playing games."

"**_Games_**, Sasuke-kun? I'm not allowed to play, but you are, is that it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You can fool around…leave your wife and kid at home while you play ninja with Naruto and…and and the younger you and the younger Naruto—"

"Sakura, you're babbling—"

"—let's not forget: THE YOUNGER SAKURA TOO!"

"What is it about her?"

"Yes, Sasuke, _just what is it about her?_"

Damn. She dropped the suffix. Another bad sign.

"Sa—"

"Is it because she's younger? Sexier? Has no left-over fats from pregnancy? Has pink hair?!"

"You're overreacting."

"Well, yes I'm overreacting! I disappear for half a day and my husband goes around kissing my younger self!"

That sounded wrong.

"Never mind that she's my younger self! The point is: I'M YOUR WIFE AND NOT HER! Not yet anyway!"

Sasuke let out a long-drawn sigh.

_You'd think a woman would be happy if her husband could love any version of her._

"Yes? What are you mumbling about, Sasuke-_kun_? What will you say in your defense, Sasuke-_kun_?"

Another sigh.

"Sakura."

They met each other eye to eye.

"Stop being anno—"

"YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE, UCHIHA, AND I'LL MAKE SURE IZUMI IS NEVER CALLED _ANIKI_!"

His wife pointed the ladle at him like a weapon, eyes ablaze.

Seeing that there was no talking any sense into her, Sasuke did the only thing that came to mind.

He grabbed his wife's wrist first, then the back of her head, and in one swift pull, captured her lips in a passionate kiss. It took her only a second to start kissing back just as fiercely.

"You really have to learn how to control your emotions, _Mrs. Uchiha_," he breathed huskily against her lips after they broke apart.

"I don't recall you complaining whenever I felt the need to _release my frustrations, Mr. Uchiha_," she countered before giving him a sultry smile.

They chuckled at the same time.

"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE **NO-SLEAZY-ACTS-WHILE-WE'RE-HERE-IN-THIS-TIMELINE** **PROMISE**, GUYS?! **I TRUSTED YOU!**"

The couple turned to see older Naruto standing mortified by the door.

But he wasn't alone.

Three red-faced younger shinobi stood with him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I must warn you that I thrive in angst and suck at comedy haha.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto.


	6. vi: Crazy

**vi. crazy**

* * *

"You shouldn't have used your Sharingan too much."

Soothing coolness washed over his head as he felt her press her hands gently against his closed eyelids.

"Whatever will I do with you? You never listen."

He wanted to protest, to tell her that he'll do whatever she wanted him to do, but his mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"I'll have you know that it's my job to look after you…the _both_ of you, so please, don't make it harder for me."

Bile rose in his throat as she continued her lecture.

"And…it makes me sad to see you like this."

He resented himself for making her feel that way, for being a source of her distress.

He willed his arm into motion.  
"_R-Rin_." He whispered.

The kunoichi jolted when he enclosed her hand in his.

**"Rin."** He stated stronger this time.

She noticed the tears that had begun flowing down his cheeks.

He still hasn't opened his eyes.

Something pulled at his subconscious, forcing him back into the darkness he was in before her voice had reached him. His grip on her hand slowly relaxed, but he wasn't completely asleep yet when she abruptly pulled away as if electrocuted.

The sound of her footsteps became his lullaby.

* * *

The prisoner never heard Sakura slam the iron door close behind her.

"How did it go?" Naruto's somber question greeted her.

"He called me _Rin_."

"Huh?"

"_He called me Rin._"

"Does that mean he's awake now?"

"No, Naruto—"

"So that means you failed—"

"YES, SASUKE! I obviously failed in waking him up if he thinks that I'm his teammate who died years ago!" Sakura screamed shrilly, her hair wildly flying around her as she turned to face the two young men.

"Now, if you can find a way to _do better than I did_ and actually succeed in this _brilliant little idea YOUR future self_ had come up with, just send me a message! I need to go destroy something!"

A mutter of '_preferably your face_' was heard before the pink-haired shinobi disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"What's gotten into her?" a new voice mused out loud.

Naruto and Sasuke turned out to see Sai walking towards them.

"And what were you three doing here?"

"It's none of your business." Sasuke replied the same time Naruto answered "I could ask you the same thing."

Sai looked on blankly.

Naruto sighed. "Nevermind. Sasuke jerk-face here"— he pointedly glared at said jerk-face—"said something that insulted Sakura-chan so she left."

"But why didn't Ugly hurt him like she did when she got mad at me?"

"W-well…"

"Does that mean she still loves—"

"We were just making rounds." Sasuke snapped. "We've answered your questions. Now, get lost."

"But I've memorized these dungeons al—"

"YOU KNOW WHAT, SAI? I'm hungry. Let's leave the bastard alone here to think about what he did. Hopefully, he can come up with an _a-p-o-l-o-g-y_ because I'm not going to talk to Sakura-chan for him."

"Tch. As if I need you to." the Uchiha murmured and began walking away in the opposite direction.

"Dickless, why do you call your best friend a 'bastard'? Is he an illegitimate child?"

"Oh, he's legitimate alright." Naruto remarked as they exited the prison. Thinking back to the 'mission' his best friend's future self had given them, he added, "Legitimately crazy like the rest of them."

* * *

"Uchiha Obito needs to wake up."

After the awkward scene the younger shinobi had walked in on, older Sakura had insisted that they stay for dinner. The three of them had half a mind to turn down the invitation, but a look at older Sasuke's face had them staying.

True enough, after the even more awkward dinner, the older Uchiha finally told them what needs to be done.

And Naruto promptly went ballistic.

"WHAT?! NO WAY! WAKE HIM UP AND LET HIM DO WHAT YOU CRAZY UCHIHA DO BEST?!"

Two pairs of dark eyes glared at the young Naruto for his statement.

"There is an explanation—"

"Damn right, there better be! We've all worked hard to put that asshole in the state he's in! Don't tell me we'd have to undo everything!"

"Naruto, let's hear it out first—"

"Sakura-chan, he killed my Mom and Dad!"

"Hey—"

"And you!" Naruto pointed a finger at his older self. "You're me! You should have known how I'd react to this!"

"I know. Hell, I would have reacted far worse. But now I'm asking you to be rational—"

"Rational? RATIONAL?! I'll show you rational when I see that asshole's face again!"

"_Are you finished yet?_" older Sasuke's cold voice cut in.

"_No, I am NOT finished._" the younger shinobi challenged, getting to his feet.

"Naruto." Sakura stood up too, and placed a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "This is crucial information. Let him explain."

"Well, I'll be damned." older Naruto chuckled. "That must be you rubbing off on me, eh, Sasuke-bastard? I never realized I could be so driven by revenge."

Older Sakura gave him a look. "You aren't that kind of person, Naruto."

"_What_ _kind of person_, _Sakura_?" her husband questioned.

"OH YEAH? Well, _people change_." The older ones looked back at the raging blond. "What if I'm already sick of playing hero—?"

"Tch. As if you'd ever—"

"**Shut up, asshole.**" Naruto snapped. It was the harshest tone he had ever used in addressing his dark-haired teammate. It left their other companions shocked. Naruto turned to them.

**_"What? He's allowed to go psycho and I'm not?"_**

"H-hey, sit down." His older self had risen to his feet too.

**_"Don't tell me what to do."_**

"Come on, just listen to me. I'm you, remember? Just sit down."

**_"I. Don't. Want. To."_**

"Your eyes are red, Naruto. _Please_. Sit down." Sakura's voice prompted.

The blond shinobi looked around him. His older self and the two females stared back at him anxiously. Sasuke appeared ready to put him down by force, while his older counterpart just regarded him coolly.

Naruto slowly inhaled and closed his eyes. When he opened them, their color was back to normal. Still, he refused to sit down.

The older Sasuke met him eye-to-eye.

"If, after everything, Obito is still alive… then you can kill him with your own hands."

"OI SASUKE!"

"SASUKE-KUN?!"

"**ENOUGH!**" the older Uchiha roared. "In our timeline, we were almost _annihilated_. We went back here to make sure _that_ doesn't happen, _ever_, remember?"

His eyes gave off a cold, merciless glint.

**"As long as ****_we_**** stay alive, I don't care what happens to everybody else." **

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Heya! So sorry for the late update. I got lost on the road of life. /shot  
Well, not really haha; but I just graduated and I badly need to go and look for a job. /rolls  
More to come in the next chapters!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto.


End file.
